6 Dec
Reward is increased for tips in West Allis slaying jsonline.com/news/crime/rew…
6 Dec
“@WiStateJournal: Prosecutors clear groups of recall election bribery allegations in Milwaukee dlvr.it/zHdj7”
5 Dec
The education of Aaron Rodgers NYT bit.ly/uOmzzd
4 Dec
Journal Sentinel bites Flynn (again): Racial gap found in traffic stops in Milwaukee – bit.ly/sC8su0
Although obviously a citizen by birth, and although she’s served on the Brokaw Village Board since 1996, Ruthelle Frank is now disenfranchised:
Ruthelle Frank was born Aug. 21, 1927, in her home in Brokaw. It was a hard birth; there were complications. A doctor had to come up from Wausau to see that she and her mother made it through.
Frank ended up paralyzed on the left side of her body. To this day, she walks with a shuffle and doesn’t have much use of one arm.
Her mother recorded her birth in the family Bible. Frank still has it. A few months later, when Ruthelle was baptized, her mother got a notarized certificate of baptism. She still has that document, too.
What she never had — and in 84 years, never needed — was a birth certificate.
Without a birth certificate, however, Frank cannot get a state ID card. And without a state ID card, according to Wisconsin’s new voter ID law, she won’t be able to vote next year.
She’s not alone:
A 2005 study by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Employment and Training Institute found an estimated 177,399 Wisconsin residents 65 and older do not have a driver’s license or state photo ID — 23 percent of that population. The study estimated that another 98,247 residents ages 35 through 64 lack IDs. Disparities were especially pronounced among racial minorities.
Ruthelle Frank has lived longer, and served in government longer, than most of those who passed a law the clear consequence of which is to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of citizens. They did this with the professed motivation to assure the “Integrity of Our Elections: Voter ID.”
Ruthelle Frank and hundreds of thousands like her never were a threat to our elections. Of the vast number like her, though, many were inclined to reject the now-majority party, and exercise a constitutional right to vote against it.
That’s why — so obviously and transparently — Wisconsin has this new law: so that the majority might weaken its political opposition, and continue in office perpetually.
What's your favorite Christmas book? I've a poll with a few choices from a list on Amazon, and a forum for comments on your own favorite (those or others). As always, comments are moderated only against tolls and profanity. Otherwise, have at it. <a xhref="http://polldaddy.com/poll/5744441/" mce_href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/5744441/">Favorite Christmas Book</a>
Good morning.
Our week in the Whippet City ends, and the weekend begins, with a sunny and cold day, and a high temperature of twenty-three. That’s not much different from the forecast for Santa Fe, New Mexico: thirty-five and sunny. Warmer, but only a bit above freezing.
NASA has a video explaining lunar eclipses, of which there will be one tomorrow —
NASA’s solid explanation of lunar eclipses isn’t the only information the agency might care to offer, as the NASA Inspector General is looking for a different explanation entirely:
In a report issued by the agency’s Inspector General on Thursday, NASA concedes that more than 500 pieces of moon rocks, meteorites, comet chunks and other space material were stolen or have been missing since 1970. That includes 218 moon samples that were stolen and later returned and about two dozen moon rocks and chunks of lunar soil that were reported lost last year.
NASA, which has loaned more than 26,000 samples, needs to keep better track of what’s sent to researchers and museums, the report said. The lack of sufficient controls “increases the risk that these unique resources may be lost,” the report concluded.
Via The Misplaced Stuff: NASA Loses Moon, Space Rocks – ABC News.
Google’s puzzle for today continues a celestial theme: “The Bayeux Tapestry depicts a visit from a celestial body that was considered a bad omen in medieval times. What year did this “apparition” next appear?”
Locally, today is the anniversary of the first Milwaukee newspaper:
1844 – Milwaukee’s First Daily Newspaper Published
On this date Milwaukee’s first daily newspaper, The Daily Sentinel, was published. David M. Keeler served and manager and C.L. MacArthur was the editor. [Source: History of Milwaukee, Vol. II, p.49]
Source: Wisconsin Historical Society.
Sack him, and he’ll have even more time for projects in Texas:
“I’m a busy man. I’m in high demand. I had a schedule already set up. And also as a Texan, and I think Wisconsin folks are the same way, I keep my word. And I already had a schedule set up. I film two TV shows, and I do a lot of other work, and so I wasn’t there for the deer hunt.”
Cross-posted at Daily Wisconsin.
The 25th Annual Wisconsin Troopers’ Art & Essay Contest is accepting entries through February 15th.
I have included the contest rules and an entry form, immediately below. The forms are available for downloading and printing.
Best of luck to all contestants.
Good morning.
Here in Whitewater it’s a Thursday with mostly sunny skies and a high temperature of thirty-one. It Burlington, VT it’s about the same: mostly sunny with a high temp of thirty-eight.
In the City of Whitewater this evening, there’s a meeting about a Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) Schedule and Milwaukee Street Reconstruction Design. A key feature of a plan is finishing in a timely way, and I’m sure that’s abound to happen eventually, for at least one project. That’s simply the optimist in me.
The Wisconsin Historical Society remembers a noted Wisconsin inventor:
1917 – Inventor John F. Appleby Dies
On this date the inventor of the twine-binder, John F. Appleby died. Appleby was raised on a wheat farm in Wisconsin and searched for an easier way to harvest and bundle grains. His invention gathered severed spears into bundles and bound the sheaves with hempen twine. His invention, which was pulled by horses, was a great success. In 1878 William Deering, a farm machinery manufacturer secured the right to use Appleby’s patent and sold 3,000 twine harvesters in a single year.
In 1882 the McCormicks (of the McCormick reapers) paid $35,000 for the privilege to manufacture Appleby’s invention. Appleby spent the rest of his life in his shop trying to create additional successful machinery. [Source: Badger Saints and Sinners by Fred L. Holmes]
Google’s puzzle for today involves the unexpected combination of patents and beer: “Beer drinkers weren’t the only fans of U.S. patent 135,245. Thirteen years later, a chemist borrowed the same idea for what popular non-alcoholic beverage?”
Not long ago, Whitewater’s public school district published seventeen budget assumptions for the 2012-13 budget. Along with those assumptions, the district announced the names of a citizens’ panel to consider and offer budget recommendations.
The assumptions. If you’re wondering whether seventeen assumptions is a typo, and that I meant to write ‘seven,’ wonder no more: the citizens’ panel will work under seventeen assumptions. (The list of assumptions is available online.)
They range from the general to the particular. Even removing the obvious (“greatest priority is to provide the highest quality of education to students based on the resources available”), the large remainder of assumptions is constrictive.
Of budgetary scenarios, there are proposed only two: “The final budget will reflect one of two scenarios: a passed referendum authorizing the Board to exceed the revenue limit as permitted in State Statute 121.91(3) or significant budget reductions.”
This is a false choice, of course. One might have less significant spending reductions and a smaller referendum request, where the choices are not exclusive, but of a different proportion than an all-or-nothing approach. For all the specificity of the assumptions, the district sees only these two options. Perhaps, more accurately, because of the specificity of the assumptions, the district sees only two options.
Citizens Of the citizens advisory group, one finds citizens, of course, but they’re typical citizens only when compared with, say, Belgian nationals. It’s a group mostly of insiders, some of whom are themselves office holders or employees of the district. By the time one finds a private citizen, one is still left with a list of many of the same people who appear on so very many lists. Of the total of eighteen, there’s only one woman. Greater diversity should be expected.
It’s more than odd – but equally predictable – that among the citizens is the incumbent state representative for the 43rd district. In an election year, a controversial freshman legislator is a particularly poor choice. (How controversial, and how poor a choice, I will address at another time.) This is hardly the case of a longstanding and popular incumbent, nearing the end of a storied political career. This district should not be in the business of offering a candidate a bullet point on a campaign flyer.
Stakeholders. ‘Stakeholder’ is used sometimes to describe different groups within a community. It’s a bad term in this context, as it’s a bad concept. The use of ‘stakeholder’ implies a greater or lesser stake, but a community by law operates through a principle of equality.
Whitewater’s school district has residents. That’s all that matters. Residents who are also eligible to vote do not have a greater vote in elections than others, however much they might wish that they did. If some want more, of money or influence, let them find more in private endeavors, where the business concept of a stakeholder (and implicitly of a greater or lesser stake) properly belongs.
Why would one ever want or need to be a stakeholder, if one is already a resident? I well-understand that the idea is to capture some richer, greater meaning. The term doesn’t offer a greater meaning; it gives only a lesser one, distracting from the true and useful focus on residents.
Good morning,
Whitewater’s Wednesday will be an increasingly cloudy one, with a high temperature of thirty degrees. In Charlotte, it’s a rainy day ahead with a high temperature of sixty-four.
There’s a Landmarks Commission meeting in Whitewater today at 5 PM.
December 7th, like 9.11, will always be a memorable day. Pearl Harbor survivor and veteran, John Eck, describes his experiences that day –
Of course it does, as any option other than a free market in labor for a need this large is an inferior, inefficient solution. (It’s also an insult to reason that desperate — and dim — officials think that prison labor is an adequate replacement.)
Farmers have complained of a lack of field hands since parts of the law took effect in late September. Many have said legal residents aren’t physically able or mentally tough enough to perform the work, and others wont do so because it doesn’t pay enough.
Hall said the agriculture positions pay well above minimum wage, but many Americans find them too “physically taxing” to perform.
An Internet-based program launched by the state in October to help connect farmers with potential workers has yet to produce results.
Via Yahoo! News.
Good morning.
Whitewater’s forecast calls for a mostly cloudy day with a high temperature of thirty-two. That’s only half as warm as El Segundo, where residents will enjoy a sixty-four-degree day with sunny skies.
In the City of Whitewater today, there’ll be a meeting of the Alcohol Licensing Commitee at 6 PM, and a Common Council meeting at 6:30 PM.
The Wisconsin Historical Society recalls that on this day in 1821, the
First Wisconsin Post Office Was Established
On this date the first Wisconsin post office was established in Green Bay. The first postmaster was John Deane and the office is still in existence. [Source:Wisconsin: Its Territorial and Statehood Post Offices, compiled by Frank Moertl, p.30]]
From Japan, there’s news of ‘the world’s most expensive car crash.’ Although these cars were certainly under insurance, the loss to society — regardless of insurance compensation — is still the loss of so many expensive machines.
Comics have been, and still are, socially relevant and significant:
Nearly 30 years after publishing V for Vendetta, writer Alan Moore and artist David Lloyd are throwing their support behind the global Occupy movement that’s drawn inspiration from their comic’s anti-totalitarian philosophy and iconography.
Moore will contribute a long-form prose piece, possibly with illustrations, to the Occupy Comics project. His writing work will explore the Occupy movement’s principles, corporate control of the comics industry and the superhero paradigm itself.
